


Friction

by Emil_Macabre



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Gore, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Other, Physical Abuse, Sexual Content, adultstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-01-17 00:58:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1368073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emil_Macabre/pseuds/Emil_Macabre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sweeps after their session, the remaining trolls live on an alternate Alternia, living their lives as adults, trying to make a home out of this familiar but strangely unnatural-feeling planet.</p><p>While some have died, others, mainly the highbloods, have made lives for themselves, slowly all loosing contact and going their separate ways. </p><p>At a meeting of highbloods, two of these long-forgotten people would meet again, and the product of their interaction would affect all the remaining survivers in ways none of them would expect.</p><p>((Or; what it's like to meet up with someone you hated for sweeps and then end up staying at their house and re-assessing everything you ever knew about them.))</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting you again

Friction.

People always say that two organisms that wan to be together for some reason need to fit to work. There are hallmark comparisons on top of hallmark comparisons- such as the famous jigsaw love- ‘they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle!’. I would say ‘bullshit’, but the fact of the matter is, sometimes it ISNT bullshit. A puzzle-piece relationship can be beautiful-  
But it can also be kind of boring.  
Sweet, but boring.

The thing that gets ME is that they will also sometimes say that if you don’t happen to fit together perfectly, they aren’t the one, and you should just call it quits.  
That, my friends, is bullshit.

In some cases, maybe-but certainly not all, not even close to all. Not many meet their puzzle-piece mates in their lives. Not many at all. Most have to deal with not fitting perfectly- with making it work by putting other things into the cracks their imperfections and fractured bond they share.  
And they can be happy.  
And some… take it to the next level.

Love doesn’t make sense. Love has made it very clear that it is NEVER going to make sense. And sometimes, love will seem to mash two people together just for fun, just to see what complete chaotic friction it will create when two completely opposing forces fall for each other in the most dramatic and non-sensical ways possible.  
But crazily enough, sometimes this works. And I believe I’ve figured out why.  
Because friction creates heat.

 

Heat that will be used to somehow fuse the two completely different shapes, made out of metal and wood, together, in a sticky unpredictable mess that even cupid would look at with one eyebrow raised, wondering how in all of fuck he did that.

That would go straight into his resume.

 

That sort of friction was an ever-more present element in Gamzee and Equius’ ever-more confusing and downright strange lifestyles. Suburb had come and it had gone, an alternate Alternia waiting as the troll’s temporary homes that didn’t turn out to be so temporary. Sweeps had also come and gone, and the remaining living trolls still lived on that thriving but strangely alien planet.  
Most had promised to stay together after all they had gone through and then lost touch. Nepeta had been killed. No one knew where Kanaya was. She had disappeared from contact when Karkat died. Eridan had a high rank to a royally-blooded queen who was not Feferi.  
Karkat had surprisingly lived his life out without being culled, sending messages to his fellow lowbloods secretly in meetings akin to the first human church-meetings in graveyards, before dying a natural death. Gamzee did a thing that was not supposed to be done and burned him, a human custom he had remembered is former moirail finding strangely beautiful (even though he would never say it).  
Though Gamzee and Karkat’s moirailigence was never completely mended, or even really ever spoken of again, they were some of the few trolls that stayed in constant and loyal contact.  
But strangely enough, neither of them could bring themselves to officially starting any other new pale relationships for the rest of their lives. It just… never felt right. 

Equius had also taken a position of authority, only really pursuing it after his moirail had been killed in one of her many caves. A simple beast that she slipped up on had been her demise. He found her, killed the animal and left them both to be taken by the planet. She would have wanted it that way.  
Terezi would be another off-the-map contestant. She had been missing from their contact longer than Maryam. Gamzee had tried to find her more than once, but she may as well have disappeared off the face of Alternia.  
Gamzee occasionally smoked a slightly more refined version of his previous addiction, soper slime, but the more or less absence of it in his life had made him harden more and ironically turn into someone or something he had once been the opposite of-

A Highblood.

In the truest sense. He now acted like one, rather the one, though he would never have quite the same outlook the other subjuggulators did on certain lowbloods.  
He favoured the green-bloods the most. Others of his cult following (that had developed over time without his help) were confused to hell by this simple little thing, and sometimes, even he was. But with the lowbloods that he killed, and he did kill, he could never bring himself to terrorize green-bloods the same way he had, once, a very, very long time ago.  
But that was all just a bad dream now, and these adult trolls needed to move on with their lives. Gamzee gained a kismisis with a hue just slightly bluer than his own, while the others all moved on and took their own quadrant-mates, at least the ones they all still knew about.

But if two people that we would all expect to loose contact the most had lost contact, it would be Gamzee and Equius.

Equius had never forgiven Gamzee (as much as it pained him too feel such ways toward a highblood), or himself for that matter, for letting Nepeta die, and quickly lost any sort of contact with him as soon as it became apparent that they were all now somehow back from the dead- or some sort of version of themselves were, even they would never know- and given the opportunity to live their lives now that they had saved at least one of the universes they were supposed to.

Later, much later, the experience of life and then death and then life again would somehow make forgiveness seem easier to him, but that would only happen very shortly before fate would have him and the highblood in question meet again.

Gamzee was one of the highest land-dwelling hues one could be, it was simply a fact. Others had very similar or even identical colours running through their veins, but Gamzee, not unlike his ancestor, was much more intelligent than anyone realized, and while he was intimidating enough, what with height and chucklevoodoo and that deep creaking voice no one wanted to hear, he also had a firm grasp on politics now that his brain wasn’t clouded with green slime. 

The trolls weren’t exactly becoming their ancestors (though last they heard from Vriska, she might as well have been Mindfang herself), not all of them, but some were getting very close.

So it shouldn’t come as too massive a surprise that Gamzee, with minimal effort, had risen in the ranks of highblood infamy. He knew how to put on a face. While he would never really be GHB, he could act like him. But there were times when Gamzee would really show through, when he would laugh, or grin at you, and you would forget to be afraid of him for just a moment, just long enough to remember what it was like when he didn’t hate everything.

His prolonged exposure to Cal and Calliborn had only made his intense black feelings for what seemed like everything grow infinitely stronger and most just assumed that he was literally incapable for feeling any sort of quadrant or feeling toward anyone that didn’t involve hate. But that was just a rumor, spread around by those below him- and they had plenty of other rumors as well.

But being the way he was and being seen the way he was seen came with its trials. Trials including gatherings of blue-and-up-bloods (and maybe the odd teal with connections) that wanted to share stories and victories and who are we fucking kidding they wanted to gossip and drag on with wine as social lubricant as the tall as fuck purple-blood stood at a wall observing them all and silently judging.

Silently judging with his eyes. Can you feel that? That’s Gamzee Makara standing to the side and judging you.

Also present at this gathering was a rather bored himself indigo-blood who had been invited for reasons he didn’t quite understand. There were other indigo-bloods here, obviously- he was mostly there to watch his two ashen fighters silently, making sure they didn’t start having hate-sex right in the middle of the bloody hall.

He silently wondered to himself why he had made himself travel all that way and come at all. Deciding they could behave like civilized adults for five seconds without his supervision (and knowing he was probably wrong) he stepped out onto the terence to breathe in some air that didn’t smell of perfumes and pretentiousness. 

When a party is too pretentious for Equius Zahhak, you know that you’ve done something terribly wrong.

When he stepped out, he found that he hadn’t been the only one with the idea. He realized who it was the instant he saw the all stark-black attire, the thick-looking green smoke drifting up from the other trolls front. Gamzee’s back to the admittedly startled indigo-blood, he didn’t even notice someone else out there; just kept blowing the sickly looking green up into the air, the lazy wafting being replaced by expertly blown rings.

There was a soft snap as the railing broke off in Equius’ hand that caught his attention.

Equius cursed himself in his mind- he could usually control his strength quite well, after sweeps and sweeps of learning how to, but this had caught him off guard. Not knowing what else to do with it, in a quiet, short fit of panic, he tossed the piece of broken railing out onto the beach below, wincing a bit at his own stupidity. Self-hate can be a very touchy thing.

“Well, well.” A gravelly voice traveled to Equius as thickly as the smoke. “If it isn’t Equius Zahhak. Or maybe you want your new title, ‘The D-’”  
“You don’t have to use it.” Equius said quickly. “To be blunt, I don’t find it… exceptional.”  
“Thank God.” Gamzee muttered, flashing him a sort of approving grin. “Yours is even motherfuckin worse than mine.”  
“…Yours isn’t that bad.”  
“Really.”  
“I mean- in my opinion, no.”  
“How’ve you been, Zahhak?” Gamzee asked, seeming genuinely curious. Equius paused. “…Very… normal.”  
“Sounds boring.”  
“Yes, well, I have come to appreciate boring.” Equius said as softly as was possible for Equius, walking forward to reach the distance he believed was appropriate for a conversation.  
“You’d think I would’ve too.” The larger of the two chucked. His voice was a as dark as the black sky they stood under. “That in there is pretty damn boring. Appreciating it?” He challenged, a ring of smoke pushing from his mouth and drifting down and then back up to blow away in between Equius’ horns. The thickness of it was all the more apparentl now and made his horns feel shrouded and weirdly tingly at the same time. He blinked and dismissed it. “…I…”  
“It’s okay. I don’t like it either.” Gamzee assured the nervous troll. The fact remained that Gamzee was a very powerful highblood, which not only intimidated Equius slightly, but also instilled an almost childish level of respect and obedience inside of him, as he tried desperately to not offend the purpleblood standing in front of him.  
“Your vocabulary has improved considerably.” Equius said, a sort of blurted out statement that he instantly regretted. Gamzee raised a single eyebrow at him. He felt himself start to sweat.  
“I- Highblood, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean-”  
“You really are still awkward as fuck.” Gamzee muttered to him, blowing more green smoke out over his horns. “You calling me Highblood again?”  
“…Did I ever really stop?”  
Gamzee considered him for a moment.  
“True. How’ve you been, Equius?” He asked, the thickish cigarette-like bundle somehow making his voice smoother as he inhaled more instead of rougher, as one would expect. Maybe it… soothed the throat?  
“…I’ve been fine. What about you? I hear things about you, obviously, but-”  
“You’re not motherfuckin stupid enough to believe handed-down rumors? …least I hope not.”  
“…That would be the reason, yes.”  
“Yeah, I’ve been fine.”  
“…You don’t seem like they make you seem in the propaganda.” Equius said, walking up and looking at him through the thick, dark lenses over his eyes. Gamzee gave a harsh laugh.  
“No one ever seems like they make them seem in the propaganda.  
Actually, you don’t seem fine.”  
Equius was slightly taken aback. “I- excuse me?”  
“You seem motherfuckin wiped.”  
“Oh. …well… yes. Yes, actually, I am. Very. I had to haul myself here from halfway across Alternia to watch the other two partners of my ashen quadrant and make sure they didn’t murder each other or worse in the middle of the hall.” Equius admitted, sounding more bitter than he had intended.  
“Ahhh. Ashen. And you’re the voice of reason.”  
“Yes. Have to ever been the voice of reason in an ashen quadrent?”  
“Mm-hm. Never motherfuckin again.”  
Equius’ throat decided that it was going to make him laugh for some reason. It was a weary, strained and very short-lived laugh. As he was about to instantly regret that as well, Gamzee started to laugh with him.  
“Come an stay with me.”  
This stopped Equius’ laugh short, and he looked over at Gamzee incredulously. “I… excuse me?”  
“Tonight, stay with me. Get some real sleep.”  
“…Highblood, this really… this isn’t any of your concern-”  
“I’m in a good mood and you don’t need to be stayin in one of those shitty fancy hotels. And cut it with the highblood bullshit, I get all the recognition I need and I don’t want it from you.”  
“…” Equius just stared at him for a moment. “…I…”  
“Assuming that you don’t need soper to sleep anymore.”  
“…Actually, no, I don’t… how did you..?”  
“I barely ever really used it for sleeping. But cause of Sburb, I just kinda stopped.”  
“…Stopped sleeping?”  
“For a while. Then I started using beds.”  
“…Beds? You mean the human sleeping chambers?”  
“Yeah. What do you sleep on now?”  
“…Completely honestly, the robot piles, or the towel piles, or… random… piles of things…”  
This earned another barking laugh from Gamzee. “You need a bed.”  
“…Yes, I do.”  
“So come’n use mine.”  
“…You have more than one?”  
“Nope.”  
Equius gave his a strange look.  
“I didn’t plan on sleepin tonight anyways, which is why I invited you over.”  
“…Gamzee, I- I appreciate your kindness, very much, but you don’t need to do this.”  
Gamzee laughed yet again. “I know I don’t. I’m not gonna talk you into accepting my good deed for the week but the offer is out there.”  
Equius paused, looking out into the water. 

“I could push you.”

In his internal conversation with himself, he hadn’t noticed that Gamzee’s mouth was right above his ear. He jerked back. Suddenly, he saw the highblood on the propaganda, in all his dark, grinning glory, and he was hovering right above his head. “I- what?”  
“I could push you down off of this balcony and you could die just because I enjoy doing that kind of thing but I’m being nice today.

If you’re as smart as I think you are, you’ll take advantage of it.”

“…I’ll… stay with you tonight.”  
“Alright.” Gamzee said, leaning back from him, taking another drag and blowing slightly thinner green film into the now crisper night air. “Meet me at the front in ten minutes.”

He stepped away from the balcony and started to make his way back inside, as Equius still stood in partial shock gripping the railing with one hand.

“And Zahhak?”

“Yes?” He answered quickly, looking over at the highblood.

“I don’t like waiting.”

He nodded and watched his host for the night disappear into the crowd of welcoming guests.


	2. Old Beliefs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Equius goes to Gamzee's house, and surprisingly, neither of them get killed.

It ended up taking Gamzee around fifteen minutes to get to the entrance, but Equius was there almost immediately. He sat at a table next to the doors, scanning the crowds, watching for his ashen partners that he was just realizing now that he was going to be abandoning for a few hours. Because that was such a good idea.  
He could only see one of them. As Gamzee approached, he silently hoped that the other wasn’t dead in the lavatory.  
A few eyes trailed after the purpleblood and Equius realized they were now hovering and slowly setting down on him. He blinked in confusion but they couldn’t see it. All that they saw was a stoic, straight-backed man adorned with dark shades of gray and indigo suddenly gaining attention from someone basically considered a celebrity. He stood up with Gamzee, and he put a hand down on his shoulder.  
“They do that.”  
“I… ‘they’?”  
“They watch.”   
He mumbled an ‘oh’ as they left the building. He began to wonder how he actually ended up being put into this situation.  
An even better question- why was Gamzee even doing this?

They hadn’t spoken in more than ten sweeps. He was basically now revered as a terrifying unofficial MONARCH and while Equius had a position of authority, he was still well below him. 

…An apology? No. When he had died in-game and made an appearance in the dream bubbles, he hadn’t even tried to talk to them (‘them’ being Nepeta and Equius). …that may have had something to do with Nepeta’s need to fuck his shit up whenever she caught a glimpse of him, but eventually, she didn’t even care about doing that. …she just didn’t. Death made her strangely apathetic when it came to certain things. One of which being Gamzee.  
‘Being mad at a crazy puurson for doing something crazy is pointless.’ That was how she described it. While Equius eventually agreed, to everyone’s surprise, he stayed angry for much longer than his moirail did.

…Come to think of it, the fact that the freakishly strong person was even angrier at him may have in fact been the reason he never talked to them. Well-  
Not never.   
One time, one single time, he found Nepeta chatting with him through Trollian. It seemed very short and the small conversation was actually quite…  
Mysterious.  
But he didn’t really want to know so he never told her that he knew about it. Sweeps after, his curiosity was killing him.

But back to the present.

They walked.

They walked to Gamzee’s hive. At first, Equius was a bit confused, but he soon realized that it was because Gamzee still lived on the shore. It only took them around ten minutes to get there. There wasn’t much talking- just walking, and for Equius, staring out into the water. He hadn’t been at any shorelines in his life excluding the planets of water in Sburb- and this was a natural formation on Alternia, which made it seem so much more beautiful. Every so often, he could swear he heard the low snickering of the troll walking next to him but he disregarded it.   
In all honesty, Gamzee was laughing; purely at the sort of childlike wonder-turning-obsession of the water he was so accustomed to. It continued to amaze him how few trolls actually spent time at waterfronts.  
The walk seemed longer than it really was, but it wasn’t out of awkwardness. Equius didn’t really know what it was actually out of, it just seemed like a very long walk, and completely honestly, he liked the walk. He wanted to take off his glasses and appreciate it in it’s entirety but there wasn’t a chance that he was going to let anyone, least of all a highblood, see his eyes. That was just out of the question.  
“Equius.”  
“Hm?” He asked, looking over. He realized they were in front of Gamzee’s hive.  
Gamzee just laughed and opened his door, stepping inside. Equius followed. Gamzee’s hive was just as tidy as you’d expect- which was, not tidy at all- and there were clear bottles of green liquid in various places. They didn’t look anything like faygo (did green faygo even exist?). …liquid slime? Gamzee had created a sort of soper cigar, so this wasn’t actually that hard to believe.  
“Absinthe.”  
“…ah.”  
“You’ve never tried it, have you?”  
“I don’t really drink.” Equius said, as Gamzee walked farther into the hive. His back was turned to Equius.  
“That doesn’t surprise me.”  
“I’m going to guess that the other bottles are also absinthe.”  
“Mmm-hm. Black is the strongest.” He laughed. “Only thing that can get me drunk.”  
“Because of your prolonged exposure to soper slime?”  
“Probably.” He looked over his shoulder at Equius. “You can sit down.”  
“I- right. Yes.”  
“Or just go upstairs, cause as I said before, you look tired as hell.”  
“That- I might just want to-”  
“Equius.”  
“Yes?”  
“Calm the fuck down.”  
There was a long pause. Equius could do nothing but stare.  
“Just calm down.” He said, staring back. “You’re actin’ like I’m gonna kill you.”   
Equius reached up and pulled his hair back, a nervous impulse. “You need a towel?” Gamzee said, glancing at his now slightly slicker skin.   
“No- Yes.”  
“Upstairs, bathroom.”  
“…Thank you. I might just…”  
“Go ahead. I’ll be here.”  
“…Gamzee, I don’t feel that I’ve properly thanked you for this. It was… very kind of you to allow me to stay here.”  
Gamzee looked over at him. “No problem.”

Equius slept in a bed that night, his dark, reflective glasses placed on the ground next to him.

Thinking completely logically and casually, this is where their interaction should have ended. When Equius woke up, he should have thanked Gamzee again and made his way home. They may have stayed in touch- they might have never spoken again.

But, the universe is rarely so simple.

Equius woke up quite violently, not too long after falling asleep, from a peculiar dream. And by violently, I mean he jolted up, fell off the side and when trying to grab on and steady himself, splintered a piece of the side-frame. He landed with a thump and groaned, covering his face with his hands.

What a lovely way to start a day.

He had kept his clothes on to sleep that night, save for his glasses and show-armor, leather and strappy, which he had worn for the event. The fabric under the tough-looking panels was surprisingly relaxed, especially for Equius, nothing more than a simple blue shirt and black pants. They almost looked handmade, loose-fitting and bound with thin leather threads. Equius picked his glasses off of the floor, and before putting them on, got up and peered out a window. The sun was out, glittering against the water like a million tiny crystals folding about gently on top of each other. It was completely beautiful and he was almost surprised that he had never seen the sight before. It then dawned on him that there must be very, very few trolls that had seen it before. The mutation in his eyes made him immune to the burning effects the powerful Alternian sun usually had on trolls, making this a very seldom-appreciated sight.

It made him hate the mutation a little bit less.  
He closed the curtain and walked out of the room, suddenly remembering where he was. It all felt very surreal, if just for a second. Cautiously, he walked downstairs, looking around. He couldn’t see or hear any traces of Gamzee anywhere he looked. 

Then someone coughed.

Equius whirled around. Gamzee was sitting at a sort of desk-shelf-thing, making soft etching noises with a pen on paper that Equius hadn’t noticed before. But he had noticed the cough.   
“When did you get there??” Equius asked, too stunned to be polite. Gamzee’s head twisted to the side, one of his eyes focusing on the smaller troll. Equius immediately assumed his usual attitude, the stun completely gone. Gamzee’s eyes flashed a sort of deep purple-orange, if such a colour did exist.   
“Not too motherfuckin long ago. When’d you get there?”  
He had a freezing voice.  
“I- …not long ago. You have something…” Equius pointed at his own cheek to gesture to Gamzee’s, suddenly feeling a bit childish. He could see the very edge of a bit of something sort of shiny-looking stuck on his cheek. Gamzee didn’t move for a moment, then reached up and slowly tapped his cheek where Equius had pointed it out.

“I know.”

It took Equius a moment to realize what he was looking at, but as Gamzee drew his hand away and went back to whatever he was writing, he saw the ‘object’ smudge onto his finger and a little further down his face. It was yellow.

Oh.

Oh.

While Equius fully approved of what was happening, or, what had just happened, he was now in a closed area with someone who had just killed a-  
No, make that more than one, as he noticed the splash of dark red on Gamzee’s shoulder-  
So two-  
At least-  
Trolls. And that probably wasn’t the safest place he could be at the moment.  
Gamzee was sitting in a rather large chair and it blocked the only path in the house to the staircase. Equius didn’t have the option to go past him, so if he were to leave now, it would be without half his things and at the full mercy of the sun. While his eyes were immune, his body was not, and with the distance he would have to go, he could get horribly burned very quickly.   
He could stay. And just stay out of Gamzee’s way.  
But that seemed to pose too much of a risk. So, very quietly, Equius walked out of the room to the back door, and sat out on the short deck. The overhanging floors and a thick, out-held curtain shielded his body from the sun. He just sat there, his elbows resting on raised knees, leaning against the side of the house, watching the sunny waves and thinking about when he should go back inside.  
This exercise proved to go on for quite some time, and because his sleep hadn’t been that great in the first place, he fell asleep out there, watching the waves. He woke up to a dark sky, a sore neck and a thick blanket thrown on top of him.

He took the blanket as a sign that it was safe to go back in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Equius goes back inside.


	3. Fried Fish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another familiar face shows up, and Equius finds himself questioning a lot of things,

Equius made his way back into the highblood's hive slowly, peering around every corner to every room. He wanted to be sure he wasn't going to walk in on a Gamzee who didn't want to be walked in on.

  
For some reason, he suddenly remembered that his show-armor was still upstairs. It had been made for him by a very close friend, and he didn't want to lose it. So, very quietly, he made his way up the creaky steps and opened Gamzee's bedroom door. And was promptly met by a sight that, while it wasn't bad on the eyes, was definitely startling. Gamzee lay in his bed, snoring softly, the sheets and quilts thrown messily around him in piles.  
He was also completely nude.  
Equius slammed the door shut and stared down at the floor. "oh my. Oh no." He murmured to himself, realizing that it most certainly would have woken him up.

"Ooooohhhh noooooo."

  
Surprisingly to him, it was a female voice that rang out from the bedroom. "hnh? Makara, you bring someone over?"  
"Nh? Yeah, h's out. Why?"  
"Think he just peeked in on us, old man." There was laughter in her voice. and it sounded very familiar, but Equius couldn't peg just who it was.  
Just was he was beginning to slip away from the door, getting over his shock, it opened, and he was greeted by the tall naked troll he'd just seen sleeping. A young-looking woman climbed up from Gamzee's bedroom floor, also completely naked. She had a long black mohawk and piercings everywhere. She'd been hidden by the bed.  
"Lookin for your armor?"  
"Y- Yes- I mean- I'm so sorry."  
Gamzee laughed. "It aint no big motherfuckin thing. You wanna join in?" He smiled wickedly, gesturing into the bedroom.  
The woman laughed sharply. "Don't get him too excited, Gamzee, he might wet his pants in the hallllllll."  
Equius was appalled to say the least. "I am- what??"  
And then, he recognized the voice. His jaw practically hit the floor.

"Vriska???"  
"That's my name, don't wear it out." Vriska said, rolling her eyes- or at least, the one eye that was left. She grinned at him. Equius looked to Gamzee. "You two are..."  
"lovesick red partners." Gamzee said dramatically, then let out a sick-sounding giggle. He looked down at Equius with wild eyes. Equius looked back up- and realized just how truely terrifying Gamzee was. Even in such a compromising situation, his hair was strewn about his head crazily and his bloodshot eyes spoke of years of death and destruction. There were long nail marks on his chest. Equius looked down in embarrassment and propriety.  
"I should leave you two, to... your things."  
"Suit yourself. Vriska, you want coffee?"  
"Oh, god, yes. Now."  
"Thought so."

"Don't lace it with any of your stupid faygo shit!!!!!!!!" Vriska called as he walked out of the room and down the stairs. He cackled loudly as he left.  
"So, what's up, Zahhak?" Vriska asked casually, raising her arms to stretch. She yawned as she did. Equius refused to look up- her breasts were heavy and they bounced as she moved. He felt his face growing hot.  
"Will you please put something on, Vriska?"  
"Too lewd for you, huh? Yeah, sure." She walked to the foot of the bed and grabbed some jeans and one of Gamzee's various sweaters from the floor and pulled them both on, then clapped for him to look up.  
"I've been... swell. You, Serket?"  
"I've been great! Adventuring, fighting, fucking with Ampora, the usual around here. Getting in bed with a cult leader really helps your social life, you know." She grinned, twirling her hair between her fingers. "He's my only mate, really. You got any?"  
He sighed. "I have ashen partners that I only see twice a sweep."  
"Jesus, that's it? Do you get to pail anyone?"  
"I've made it a point not to. I would only hurt them."  
"Some trolls are into that, you know." Vriska said. Gamzee walked up the stairs with two cups in his hands. He handed one to Vriska, and one to Equius.  
"I... I didn't ask for-"  
"But you look like you motherfuckin NEED IT. Figured you take it black."  
"...I do. But... what about you?"  
Gamzee shrugged. "I don't drink coffee. Only keep it around for this one." He said, and ruffled Vriska's hair playfully. She snickered.  
"We're goin down to the water tonight and catchin fish. You wanna come with?"  
"I..."

And in that moment, Equius questioned if he was happy with his life or not.

"...Yes, I do."


	4. Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Equius decides to do something drastic. Vriska questions him- but Gamzee is completely on board, much to everyone's surprise.

So, for the first time in his life, Equius went fishing.  
Gamzee wore nothing but cut-off jeans, frayed edges brushing his calves as he walked down to the water's start. Vriska was in a beautiful light sundress, showing off her pristine figure. Her long hair was in a bun at the top of her head, both shaved sides very visible now. Gamzee had lent Equius some clothes so he could get changed- he wore a shirt that was just a bit too big for him and black shorts. Though he wasn't as tall as Gamzee, he filled out the clothes fairly well- Gamzee was thin and lean, and he wasn't hard to fill out.  
Vriska cast her line and made a joke about catching an Ampora. Gamzee let out a shrill laugh and they settled in together, holding each other. Equius felt a bit awkward, but none the less, accepted. He cast his line, careful not to break anything, and sat with them. They made some small talk, but mostly it was quiet. The moon was beautiful and it shone down on them and the water, casting a silvery glow on everything it touched.  
Gamzee looked over at Equius, and offered him a bottle. Knowing it was absenth, he politely refused. Gamzee just smiled.

"You're beautiful, man."

Equius looked down. "...thank you."  
"I mean it, brothermine. You're motherfuckin beautiful. Y'look prettier in the sunlight, though." He grinned, and bit the cap of the bottle off. Vriska took it from him and took a swig before howling out into the sky and laughing. She kicked her bare feet at the strength of the liquor.   
Gamzee laughed and took the bottle back. "Green, girl. Careful now." He said, as he steadied her.  
Equius smiled softly at them. Vriska looked at Gamzee like she was looking at the entire world- there was a beautiful fullness of love in her eyes. Gamzee was very sweet to her- you could see their connection.  
It was nice to see Vriska let go and enjoy herself. After all she'd been through... she seemed happy.

"I'll... probably leave tomorrow. I mean- I have to." Equius said softly. Gamzee turned to him, almost looking a little hurt. But he nodded. "Yeah, I understand. Got my motherfuckin understand on for that shit, bro."   
"I don't want to, though." He admitted. He liked it there- in that moment. It felt magic. It felt like he was part of something good.  
He'd never really felt that before.

"...You still got my trollian?" Gamzee asked. Equius looked over, a bemused smile on his face. "Well- yes, I do."  
"Let's kick that motherfuckin shit back on again, bro! Troll me when you get back."  
Equius laughed. "That sounds good, Gamzee."  
"Motherfuckin right it does, brother." Gamzee murmured, and took a drink from his bottle. He hugged Vriska to his breast and they all stared off into the moon, thinking as one.

 

Three months passed.

 

Three months of Gamzee and Vriska and Equius all trolling back and forth in stupid immature memos and logs. Vriska was back out on the sea, and Gamzee was all alone in his hive. The lonliness showed- Gamzee was more on edge when she was gone. Angrier. ...Nastier.  
Equius remembered messaging him one day to be met with a simple and scary message. But the conversation took a turn no one could have really expected.

CT: Hello, Gamzee  
TC: honk.

Equius blinked. he knew Gamzee fairly well at this point- and he knew that wasn't a particularly good sign.

CT: How are you feeling?  
TC: aight. FEELIN UP AN FINE IN THIS TITTY-ASS BITCH.  
CT: ...Well, that does answer my question.

Equius sighed. And then he realized something. Had he ever tied to calm Gamzee down? Ever?

TC: FUCK'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?  
CT: Pap?  
TC: what?  
CT: pap.  
TC: s' fuckin dumb, stop that shit bro.

Equius had no idea what he was doing, obviously.

CT: I'm lonely too.

There was a long silence on Gamzee'd end.

TC: cmere then.  
CT: I can't just pack up and leave, Gamzee.  
TC: why not?

Equius started trolling Vriska immediately.

CT: Help me  
AG: What shit did y8u get y8urself int8 n8w?  
CT: Gamzee wants me to live with him.  
CT: I think.  
CT: one second.  
AG: wait, what?

 

TC: Equius?  
CT: Do you want me to come and stay with you?  
TC: i mean  
TC: that'd be pretty sweet man

 

AG: Y8u can't be seri8us.  
CT: He does  
AG: Uhhhhhhhh  
AG: Y8u have a wh8le life 8n the 8ther side 8f Alternia, Eq. Y8u can't just  
CT: But I can. I d8n't have much 8f a life, Vriska. I never really did.  
AG: ...Are y8u red f8r him?

Equius leaned back in his chair.

AG: Never mind.  
AG: Do what you want, Equius.

 

Equius left his job and moved in with Gamzee three weeks later.

**Author's Note:**

> ADULT GAMZEE HITS ON PEOPLE BY THREATENING THEM. I THINK IT MAKES SENSE.


End file.
